Lessor BOC Aviation says AirAsia X restructuring favours Airbus, calls for debt-to-equity swap

Lessor BOC Aviation Limited (BOCA) has asked a Malaysian court to dismiss AirAsia X’s debt restructuring scheme as it rules out a debt-to-equity swap and gives too much power to Airbus as a creditor, an affidavit filed by a top BOCA executive shows. AirAsia X has proposed to reconstitute $15.3b of debt into a principal amount of 200m ringgit ($48m) and have the rest waived. The airline, which has posted losses since June 2019, said the alternative was to face liquidation with no returns to creditors. It is now seeking court approval to convene a meeting with creditors to vote on the scheme. In an affidavit filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Nov. 26, BOCA COO David Walton said the restructuring was unfair as it writes off 99.7% of claims without offering creditors an equity stake. BOCA became one of Norwegian Air’s top shareholders in May after agreeing with other lessors to convert debt to equity. The airline sought bankruptcy protection last month after failing to get more state support.<br/>